Court ruling describes the low-fare carrier’s luggage fees as “gross” and may allow passengers to claim the fees refunded, writes Travel News.

A Spanish court has issued an order requiring the airline to reimburse 20 Euro for a passenger. The amount covers a fee for which the airline charged the passenger because she brought a 10 kg hand luggage out to the aircraft, without having a “priority” ticket.

The actual bag that the passenger brought was within the allowable weight limit and was included in the fare. But Ryanair had recently introduced a new rule that the dimensions of cabin luggage should only be 40 x 20 x 25 cm for passengers who have not purchased priorty boarding. The passenger did not, and although she had not been made aware of the rule, she had to pay an extra 20 Euro to get on the plane.

But the Spanish court, in its ruling, considers that the collection of the 20 Euro is contrary to both Spanish and European case law and that the passenger should have his 20 Euro back – with interest.

Ryanair said in a comment on the ruling that it would not have any bearing on the airline’s baggage and fees policy, and a spokesman described the Spanish judgment as “an isolated case”.

In a comment to the English newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Ryanair writes that “the ruling does not affect Ryanair’s baggage policy as it interprets the commercial freedom of airlines to determine the size of cabin baggage”.